Peterborough United will never give up on the play-offs as they saw what Lincoln City did last season

Club captain Hector Kyprianou, a midfielder now happily back in the Posh first-team squad after a lengthy injury absence, mentioned Lincoln’s ‘crazy’ run in the second-half of last season during an interview on the Posh Plus service.

When the Imps drew 0-0 at home to Posh in late January last season they had gone nine games without a win and were 14 points adrift of the play-off places with just 17 matches to go. They then won 12 of their next 16 matches and only lost out on a top six spot when losing at home to champions Portsmouth on the final day of the season.

“Anything can happen when you pick up momentum,” Kyprianou stated. “Just look at Lincoln last season. They started slowly and then went on a crazy run in the second-half of the season and got into the top six before missing out. We play so many games so quickly in this division you can pick up a lot of points in a short space of time.

"Obviously we are well off where we need to be and it’s only by pulling together as players and management staff that we will get ourselves of it. We will come out the other side and if we are then successful it will taste even sweeter because of the rough patch we’ve been through.

"When you are a young squad confidence is key which is why the supporters have such an important role to play. The fans have a massive impact on us and we are grateful for the support they give us, especially in the tough times.

"I feel a big responsibility to getting us up the table and other players feel the same. It’s still important for me to manage my minutes, but hopefully in the New Year I will be able to play 90 minutes in every game.”

Kyprianou was absent for two months with a hamstring injury suffered in a 3-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic on October 1. He returned as a substitute against Burton Albion on December 4 and played an hour of Monday’s 2-1 loss at local rivals Northampton Town.

Posh are currently nine places and 10 points off a play-off spot. They are just five places and two points above the relegation zone ahead of Saturday’s League One game at home to Crawley Town on Saturday.